The IRA Army Council is the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to the removal of the British presence in Ireland. Its ruling army council has seven members, said by the British and Irish governments to include Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Féin.

Background

The IRA is a "proscribed organization" under the terms of the Offences Against the State Acts in the Republic of Ireland and under equivalent anti-terrorist legislation in Britain, making membership of it a criminal offence. In Ireland, conviction for membership is possible in the Special Criminal Court, where three judges hear cases without a jury, on the evidence of a Garda superintendent or higher rank, and carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.

Senior members of Sinn Féin, some of whom sit on the army council according to the British and Irish governments, together with IRA members not known to be involved in illegal activities, have been effectively immune from prosecution in recent years in order to maintain the peace process. This may change following the recent Northern Bank robbery of £26million.

On 14th January 2005, Martin Ferris (Sinn Féin party, T.D. for North Kerry) was accused of being a member of the IRA army council in an article in the Irish Times written by journalist Kevin Myers. In the same article, Myers accused those members of Sinn Féin who had visited Downing Street in December 2004, which included Gerry Adams, of membership of the army council.

On February 20, 2005, Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell publicly named Gerry Adams, Martin Ferris, and Martin McGuinness MP, who is Sinn Féin's chief negotiator, as members of the army council during a radio interview. [1]

Membership

The IRA is a secret organization. Consequently, facts about the make-up of its upper echelons are hard to come by. The investigative journalist Ed Moloney has said that, as of 2001, the army council consists of:

IRA army council:

• Thomas "Slab" Murphy, chief of staff;
• Brian Keenan, assistant chief of staff;
• Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Féin since 1983, MP for West Belfast;
• Martin McGuinness, Sinn Féin MP for Mid Ulster, MLA, head of Derry IRA and IRA Northern Command;
• Pat Doherty, vice president of Sinn Féin, MLA;
• Martin Ferris, Sinn Féin T.D. for Kerry North, convicted IRA gun-runner;
• Brian Gillen

General Headquarters staff: Among whom are:

• Martin Lynch, Adj-General.
• Brendan Fox, Engineering.
• Patrick Thompson, director of finance.
• Bobby Storey, director of intelligence, jailed on arms charges.

As of 2004, the army council is believed to consist of Adams, Ferris, Gillen, Keenan, McGuinness, Murphy, and "The Undertaker" from South Armagh.

References

• A Secret History of the IRA, Ed Moloney, 2002. ISBN 0393 32502 4
• "Irish minister says Adams is an IRA leader" by Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, February 21, 2005